As we continue our chat with Musicbed CEO Daniel McCarthy, we discuss the selection process for Musicbed artists, as well as the importance of catering to the new generation of filmmakers.
The first thought that may come to your head when thinking about stock music is the kind of project that simply doesn’t have the budget to hire a composer. However, money is not always the main limitation — sometimes the deciding factor may actually be time. We discuss the importance of of providing a quality product regardless of the kind of project.
We also touch on the subject of how Musicbed selects the artists it works with. Although there still is an element of receiving large amounts of artist submissions, Musicbed has since moved on to actively reaching out to artists that may actually go on to become highly successful outside of the stock music sphere, working much like a music label.
But who are the people using the tracks in the Musicbed catalogue? Daniel explains the split between its customer base of indie filmmakers and other uses. He also highlights the importance of establishing a good connection with the younger generation of filmmakers — after all, “The 22 year-old kid that’s getting a DSLR for the first time right now is going to be shooting Nike spots in a decade”. Good point!
Musicbed will be holding its first conference at the end of September in Texas, with guest Keynote speakers of the caliber of Shane Hurlbut ASC, or National Geographic Creative Director Andy Baker. Daniel gives us all the details, including pricing, early bird ticket prices and more.
Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE GO coming!
ManfrottoOlympusSchneider-KreuznachPanasonic
Watch previous episodes of ON THE GO (& On the Couch) by clicking here. Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

On this episode of ON THE GO, we talk to Daniel McCarthy, CEO of the very popular and extremely well-curated music licensing site Musicbed.
As we navigate the Las Vegas traffic, we talk to Daniel about the origins of Musicbed, their journey throughout the past 6 years, and how they managed to give a breath of fresh air with their choice of music to an increasingly stale stock music landscape.
Perhaps the success of the Musicbed platform can be boiled down to the company’s overall philosophy: rather than just providing a catalogue of tracks, Musicbed is constantly trying to find the next best thing, working with new artists as they make it big in the industry. A good example was their work along with the band Imagine Dragons, which signed with Musicbed a few years before breaking into the mainstream.
Daniel also tells us how important it is to develop lasting relationships with the artists, and compensating them accordingly. We discuss how their model of charging on a per-track basis compares with the generally more affordable subscription-based models for music licensing, and the pros and cons of both types.
Although Musicbed prices its tracks according to the size of audience you intend your project to have, we discuss how the company is always willing to work with you to find the right deal.
Make sure to check out the large Musicbed catalogue on their site.
Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE GO coming!
TILTABlackmagic DesignKesslerFUJINON
Watch previous episodes of ON THE GO (& On the Couch) by clicking here. Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Music-licensing platform newcomer Soundstripe stays fresh by launching a website overhaul and a host of new features. Read on to find out more and get a discount coupon code!
We first covered Soundstripe last year in our post comparing various competing music licensing sites. Back then, the platform was just getting started, but their premise was simple: an affordable, no-strings-attached, monthly subscription-based music-licensing service. A few months later, they even removed the tier system that increased the price of music licenses depending on the size of your expected audience, a move that further added to making Soundstripe a very competitive alternative.
Now, just over a year after its birth, Soundstripe has launched a brand new site, offering various new features. But first, check out the announcement message from founders Travis and Micah:
Soundstripe – New Features
The new site now lets you create playlists of potential music tracks, allowing you to easily share ideas for music track candidates with clients and teammates. This means no more sending endless lists of individual links or track names. In addition, you can now search and apply filters within playlists, such as narrowing down your search by mood, genre, pace, and even individual instruments.
Some of the site’s new features.
Right now you can purchase a subscription for only $15/month, which you can cancel at any time. The price for a yearly subscription is $135, which means a 25% discount for a year. Make sure you use coupon code “CINEMA5D” at check-out to get 10% of either subscription model.
For more information about what the company is up to and what they have in store for the future, check out their announcement blog post HERE.
What is your music-licensing platform of choice? Have you had any experience with Soundstripe? Let us know in the comments section below!